Our Regional Activity has a host of wonderful speakers lined-up to give you the most on the Public Relations World. Read their bios and plan which speakers you would like to hear! Check back regularly as we update with new information!
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Michael Hinman
Account Executive & Media Manager
Environmental PR Group.
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Michael Hinman stepped into media at a very young age, getting his first newspaper reporting job at 16, his first radio job at 17, and at 18, was the nation’s youngest sports editor at a commercial newspaper. After spending 18 years in journalism, Michael made the transition to public relations, joining the Environmental PR Group in Tampa, Fla., in 2010. His time in marketing, however, stretches back to the commercialization of the Internet, turning a small entertainment news site he created in 1998 into a well-known outlet without spending a single penny on promotion. He later sold the brand he developed for the site, “SyFy,” to NBC Universal, who in turn used the name to rebrand the SciFi Channel to Syfy.
Michael serves clients who believe in environmental conservation, ranging from public companies to governments.
SPEAKER: Erin Kuhl
Lead Corporate Communications Specialist, Public Affairs
The Dow Chemical Company
As part of the Corporate Communications team, Erin Kuhl manages employee communications projects for Dow’s approximately 50,000 employees globally. In this position, Erin works with Public Affairs professionals across the Company to develop and implement corporate-wide employee engagement programs and internal marketing initiatives such as Discover Dow (products and technology) and EVERGREEN (sustainability). She also coordinates Dow’s internal newsroom, serves as editor of the Dow Intranet homepage, works on Dow World News – a quarterly broadcast hosted by Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris – and is a member of Dow’s Olympic Employee Engagement Committee.
Prior to employee communications, Erin held the role of Core Services manager for Public Affairs’ Functional Communications and Change Management Center. In this position, Erin managed internal communications for several of Dow’s functions such as Information Systems, Human Resources, Supply Chain, Manufacturing & Engineering and Environment, Health & Safety / Sustainability.
Erin joined Public Affairs in February 2007 in the rotational Public Affairs Development Program. While in the program, she spent time in a corporate role working on recruiting, on-boarding and internships for Public Affairs, and then in a marketing communications role with the European Plastics business in Horgen, Switzerland working on K 2007, an international plastics tradeshow.
Erin graduated from Central Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in integrative public relations.
SPEAKER: Mindy Bianca
Public Relations Director
Hershey Entertainment & Resorts
Mindy Bianca is the Public Relations Director for Hershey Entertainment & Resorts (HE&R), where she leads the team of PR professionals responsible for introducing the media and the traveling public to the destination of Hershey, Pennsylvania.
In addition to telling the stories of the town built by chocolate magnate Milton S. Hershey, the team of seven is responsible for the PR activities around Hersheypark, The Hotel Hershey, Hershey Lodge, Hershey Highmeadow Campground, ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park, Hershey Golf Collection, the Chocolate Spa, restaurants, shops and special events.
Mindy began her career as a journalist – first at a newspaper and then at two travel magazines – but she switched to public relations in 1994 and hasn’t ever looked back. After more than 10 years handling PR for Maryland’s Office of Tourism Development, Mindy came to Hershey in May 2005.
She is a member and past chair of the Public Relations Society of America’s Travel and Tourism Section; a member of and past board representative to the Society of American Travel Writers; and the founder and member emeritus of the Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance, a partnership among travel PR professionals in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, DC. She also serves on the PR committees of two industry associations, Historic Hotels of America and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.
SPEAKER: Cara O’Donnell
Associate Vice President of Public Relations
Tierney
Cara O’Donnell is an Associate Vice President of Public Relations for Tierney, a full-service Philadelphia-based agency with skills in advertising, PR, interactive and media. Cara oversees the agency’s tourism division, which helps to share the travel stories of clients ranging from the Pennsylvania Tourism Office to the Lancaster-based Keystone Arts Collaborative.
Cara joined Tierney after leading national media efforts for the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau in Lancaster, where her work helped the Bureau increase its media coverage by more than 700% and earned feature stories in outlets ranging from the Today Show to USA Today, New York Times, and Food & Wine. She came to the world of travel and tourism after spending several years working in education PR, both at the college and government level. Cara began her career on the other side of the camera in the world of television news, where she was an anchor and reporter for CBS affiliate WHP-TV, Time Warner’s Berks County News and WLYH-TV.
Cara is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and Public Relations Society of America’s Travel & Tourism Chapter. She is also a past chair and Marketplace host for the Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance. Her work has been honored with four Adrian Awards from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International.
SPEAKER: Jennifer Bullano
Director of Communications
Pittsburgh Penguins
Miss. Bullano graduated from Penn State University with a B.A. in public relations in 2003 and earned and MBA with emphasis in sports, arts and entertainment management from Point Park University in 2007.
Prior to joining the Penguins, Jennifer spent three years working for the Walt Disney Company in guest relations and VIP services. Her duties included media events such as ABC’s Super Soap Weekend, ESPN the Weekend and Disney executive conferences.
Jennifer joined the Penguins in 2006 as a graduate intern, was hired as manager of media relations in the fall and promoted to her current position of director of communications in the summer of 2008. Miss. Bullano serves as the primary contact for the NHL communication requests and is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the Penguins communications department and coordinating all player and management interviews. Jennifer travels full time with the team and was a part of the Penguins Stanley Cup championship in 2009. She is currently the only female to hold her position in the National Hockey League.
The native of New Castle, Pennsylvania also teaches part-time as an adjunct professor at Point Park University. Jennifer teaches Media Relations in Sports and Public Relations for the Sports, Arts and Entertainment Management program within the School of Business.
SPEAKER: Meredith Topalanchik
Vice President and Director, Client Services
CooperKatz
With more than ten years of experience in consumer product and business-to-business communications, Meredith Topalanchik combines a passion for media and client relations with a strong creative voice. In her role as vice president and director, client services at CooperKatz, she leads public relations programs for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC and Petfinder.com as well as significant projects within the Cogence® practice.
Her previous experience at CooperKatz includes driving a broad range of initiatives for HowStuffWorks.com, the Association of National Advertisers, MSN.com, Piaggio USA (manufacturer of the iconic Vespa® motor scooter), ShopVogue.TV, flip.com, WeatherBug, Invest Northern Ireland and Virgin Mobile USA.
Prior to joining CooperKatz, Meredith spent five years at Freeman Public Relations. There, she successfully executed a variety of campaigns ranging from new toy introductions to special events for clients such as Fisher-Price, Rubbermaid Tough Tools, Strait-Line Electronic Tools and Jeep Consumer Products. She also executed strategic programs and launch events for Staples, The Home Depot, MasterCard and Pitney Bowes while at Alan Taylor Communications.
Currently, Meredith serves as the board co-president for the Penn State College of Communications Ad/PR Affiliate Program Group (APG). She is a 1999 graduate of the Pennsylvania State University’s College of Communications with a bachelor’s degree in advertising / public relations.
SPEAKER: Linda Burkley
President
Ardis Communications LLC
Linda Burkley, APR, is President of the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based Ardis Communications LLC, a public relations consultancy focusing on creative strategies and branding for government, non-profit organizations and small business. She serves as an Adjunct Professor of Public Relations at Susquehanna University and is the immediate past president of the Central Pennsylvania PRSA Chapter.
Linda has over 20 years of industry experience and numerous awards for creativity and implementation. A strong believer in community service, she has held leadership positions on over 25 boards and task forces during her career. She holds a B.A. in Writing from La Roche College and an M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.
SPEAKER: Nicole Kazmar
Corporate Communications Specialist
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Nicole Kazmar is the corporate communications specialist for Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. She is the editor of the weekly employee newsletter, Crescent, and works closely with a variety of departments that include nursing, human resources, facilities, and quality services, to produce marketing/communication tools for employees. Nicole also is the managing editor of the institution’s annual report, Penn State Medicine magazine, and a physician’s newsletter, News and Notes. She has been with the organization for more than six years.
Nicole is a 1999 graduate of Shippensburg University with a bachelor’s degree in radio/television production and a minor in speech communications. Before coming to the Medical Center, she worked for more than five years in radio handling major promotions for Top 40/Adult Contemporary, Talk Radio, and Oldies formatted stations.
SPEAKER: Megan Manlove
Manager of Media Relations and Public Affairs
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center , Penn State College of Medicine, and the Penn State Hershey Health System.
A Central Pennsylvania native, Megan received a bachelor’s degree in communications from Shippensburg University then continued her education at the University of Alabama, where she taught media writing to undergraduates while earning a master’s in journalism. Newspaper career highlights include:
- Covering news from three of Alabama’s major universities—all of which had robust science programs, including agriculture, engineering, and health—and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center;
- An eight-day assignment to the Badlands of North Dakota, following the quest of a university archaeology team searching for bones with evidence of dinosaur DNA;
- A two-hour flight in a refurbished B-24 bomber with a man who’d flown the bird as tail gunner during WWII;
- A weeklong writing seminar at the Poynter Institute in Tampa, for which she was selected from a national candidate pool;
- Being awarded the U.S. Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Medal for coverage of the repatriation of a Vietnam soldier’s remains after he’d been MIA for 29 years.
In 2005 after a 10-day stint in New Orleans reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for the newspaper and a decade as a reporter, Megan took an opportunity to switch careers.
As a specialist for science communications and marketing at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, she filled multiple roles. She was alternately responsible for translating amazing but technical scientific discoveries into meaningful lay language, managing the production of promotional publications, promoting research faculty and medical student honors and events, and coordinating advertising for clinical trial recruitment.
SPEAKER: Laura England
Executive Vice President of Communications
Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association
Laura England is executive vice president of communications for Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association where she oversees industry image and relations, strategic and integrated communications, media relations and crisis management. Laura and her team are responsible for promoting the overall image of dairy farmers and the dairy industry as well as the health and nutrition benefits of milk and dairy products.
Laura grew up on a dairy farm in Blair County, Pennsylvania, and has been involved in dairy industry communications for more than 25 years. She began her career as a writer for Lancaster Farming newspaper and then joined Atlantic Dairy Cooperative as public relations manager. Atlantic Dairy Cooperative later merged with Land O’Lakes, where Laura continued to work in public relations for Land O’Lakes Eastern Operations and with the corporate office in Minnesota. She also worked as a public relations consultant prior to joining Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association in 2000.
Laura has served on national planning committees for Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI), which directs the promotional activities of Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and 19 other state and regional dairy promotion programs. She currently serves as a member of DMI’s Integrated Communications Task Force. Additionally, she is a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of PRSA.
Laura earned a bachelor’s degree in general agriculture, with an emphasis in journalism, from the Pennsylvania State University, and a master’s in business administration from La Salle University. She recently completed a post-master’s certificate in food marketing at Saint Joseph’s University.
SPEAKER: Alicia Pimental
Online Communications Manager
Chesapeake Bay Program
Alicia Pimental is the online communications manager for the Chesapeake Bay Program in Annapolis, Md., a public-private partnership that oversees Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts in sex states and the District of Columbia. In her position, Alicia is responsible for all of the Bay Program’s online communications including writing news and web content about Chesapeake Bay science and policy, reaching out to targeted audiences through social media and developing a content strategy and editorial calendars. Alicia has worked at the Chesapeake Bay Program since 2006, when she graduation from American University in Washington, D.C., with a degree in public communication. During her time at American, Alicia served as president o the school’s PRSSA chapter, which held a regional activity on PR careers in the nation’s capital. Alicia credits a class about conservation politics and her time with RSSA for helping her discover her passion for science and the environment and turning that into a successful public relations career.